Ruth Kitney: At 101, eyesight gone, but living life in vivid color

At 101, Ruth Kitney listens intently Tuesday during a meeting of the Oswego County Book Club at the Springside at Seneca Hill retirement community in Oswego. Since the founding of the club, Kitney - who is completely blind - has never missed a meeting. At her side is Franklin Warren, another member.John Berry/The Post-Standard

Ruth Kitney wakes up each day to a world that’s either white or gray. Two decades ago, she began losing her vision to macular degeneration. The disease left Ruth completely blind, although she discovered a strange phenomenon.

“I have two different kind of days,” Ruth said. “One day, everything is completely white. The next day everything is completely gray.”

The statement was literal, not spiritual. At 101, she treats each moment like a sunburst.

Ruth is still an active participant in several community organizations, including the book club. She is an original member of the 70-year-old Bessie Rich Circle at the State Street United Methodist Church in Fulton, the little city where Ruth has spent her life. In the morning, she gets up and walks on a treadmill. She insists on preparing many meals. She always wants to help with the dishes.

“She’s very tough,” said Bruce Kitney, 66, one of her three children.

His mother lives in an apartment attached to the home of Bruce’s sister, Barbara, where Ruth spent much of the last year assembling a book about her life. She always wished she’d asked her own parents more questions when she had the chance, and she wanted to spare her family those regrets. Despite her blindness, she began the painstaking job of writing out her memories, line by line, on paper. Her children transcribed those thoughts and collected photographs — on her suggestion — for the book.

Ruth’s memory is tremendous. She can describe the day when her father brought home his first radio, how the entire family sat and marveled in the living room as he searched for a signal from, say, faraway Chicago. Almost a century later, Ruth feels the same awe when she mentions some casual question about the world and her great-grandchildren find an answer, within seconds, by pulling out their iPhones.

As for Ruth, her mind provides her own way of retrieving data. While making the book, she’d offer specific memories that involved the aroma of a vanished chocolate factory, or the neighbor who once worked as a circus clown, or the grocer who’d come to her house with a horse and wagon.

“I do have mental pictures in my mind,” Ruth said.

Ruth Kitney, as a young woman.Family photo

Tuesday, she accompanied her son Bruce and his wife Karen to Springside for a meeting of the book club, started years ago by members of Oswego County Visually Impaired. While the level of visual difficulty varies - some at the table still read print, while others listen to audio books - the regulars are sure of one thing:

Ruth will show up.

“Our organization started in 1987, and she was a member from the beginning, and ever since then (for regular meetings) she’s never missed one,” said Laura Smith, 76, president of Oswego County Visually Impaired.

Ruth often contributed her thoughts as the group discussed a book called “Joshua: A Parable for Today.” The conversation evolved into a passionate debate about Christ and the nature of his divinity, before the little gathering took a break to sing “Happy Birthday” to Franklin Warren, a book club member who turned 80 a few days ago.

In 1932, on the day of Franklin’s birth, Ruth was already teaching in a one-room schoolhouse.

“The years have gone by so swiftly,” said Ruth, whose husband, Henry — a retired machinist — died about 20 years ago. As for her own career, she left teaching to raise the children — Brian, Bruce and Barbara — then returned to the classroom after they were grown. Her life, really, was a celebration: She loved to paint, and her children say she made beautiful, elaborate quilts. Ruth didn’t smoke. She didn’t touch alcohol or coffee. Her health was extraordinary, except for the great blow:

In her 80s, quickly, her eyesight began to fade.

For a few months, Ruth struggled to accept it. Then she considered all the reasons for moving forward.

Such as: The Christmas and birthday list she keeps in her mind. It has grown to 46 names, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Beyond that, there are more books to absorb, more meetings to attend. She turns on “Good Morning, America” every day after she rolls out bed, and she listens to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in the evening.

Most of all, she focuses on an ethic she’s embraced since she was young: Before she sleeps, she always wills herself to recall some blessing from her day.